The star appears on the video call and right away starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—would already know that Sennott holds plenty to say, whether on roles, relationships, or the merits of forming a teen fight club. And, once you finish her recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more perspectives on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is a fan, naming the show together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for her series, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on concept went to the HBO series, the show about an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from personal, at first fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular event for followers. It was a phase that saw her grasp major life lessons, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively drawn to having babies; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been peers supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she shared content titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a representation of advantaged twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she observes. “I think that young people have been through a lot – I’m mostly thinking of people younger than me, like my little sister, who went to college during Covid, so she had to come home, or my other sister who was doing school online.”|“The younger generation has faced significant
